Sakib





April 4, 1964 - January 17, 2004


My oldest friend passed away on January 17, 2004. He would have turned 40 on April 4th. We had been friends for 37 years. My mom, who passed away ten years ago, bought Sakib when he was two and I was two. We called him Keebie. Keebie was an Arabian stallion with big, brown, gentle, intelligent eyes. I learned to ride on him. More importantly, I learned the unconditional love and respect that can only come from the purest of hearts.

Mom had him at Belmont Race Track where she was one of only a handful of woman trainers at the time. She used him as a lead pony (although we all knew she just liked to show him off) until he had the slightest bit of heat in his tendon. He came back home that day. During his time as a lead pony he would lead fillies, mares, and other colts or stallions with nothing but professionalism. He never acted "studdish". He was always a gentleman, at home, work or play. He sired about 50 foals, and always treated his mares with kindness and respect.

I have known hundreds of horses in my life. I have never met a horse as wise and dignified as Keebie. He befriended all creatures and humans he met. My children who are now 5 and 7 are the forth generation of my family to have known him. They both have ridden on his back. I set a 50 pound weight limit on his back when he was 30. They were happy to sit on him, but more happy to groom him. He loved to be brushed, and would gladly give a back rub with his lips to anyone standing in front of him while he had his withers curried.

We were planning on having a big birthday celebration for Keebie this April. I've known for many years that he was living on borrowed time, but I still expected him to live forever. I don't remember life without him in it. We dug a grave before his thirtieth winter. We live in the northeast where frozen earth can complicate last wishes. He would never leave the farm that he and mom loved so much. Well the grave filled with blowing sand over the years. Ten years went by and now he was approaching 40. We re-dug the grave last fall. Not just being practical, but with a feeling that this was going to be his final winter.

His health was perfect until his last week with us. He stopped eating and drinking. I called the vet on his third day with little appetite, who agreed that he was still happy. He was showing no signs of distress. The vet said he might snap out of it, or that he could die. I spent hours daily with him during our last week together. It was a frigid cold snap. I would carry warm buckets of water to him, hoping he would drink. I cooked him warm mashes with apples and carrots and anything else I could think of that he might eat. I brushed him and loved him. I saw him grow weaker. I knew my friend was dying. I would cry to the heavens "Please Mom, just take him. Don't make me have to put him down." But my prayers were not answered in the way I wished. I went down to the barn on that cold Saturday morning to find my oldest friend down, struggling to get up. My husband called the vet. I sat in his stall with Keebie's head on my lap while we waited. Many of our friends think he was waiting for me. I always said I wanted to go to the barn and find that he had died in his sleep. I guess he wanted to say goodbye.

Mom's best friend said it best. "Sakib is now carrying Mom on his back - not here in the frigid north, but over a vast desert. They are in search of a band of mares worthy enough to be claimed by such a noble stallion. We would like to believe that each of them has fulfilled their quest."

Ann Cibelli














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